Booker’s 20-foot jumper beats Mavs at the buzzer
DALLAS – The Suns on Saturday sent out the youngest starting lineup in team history. Part of this was from necessity, part from late-season organizational philosophy.
With center Alex Len out with a right hip issue, coach Earl Watson went small, starting rookie Derrick Jones, Jr., shifting T.J. Warren to power forward and rookie Marquese Chriss to center.
Average age of Phoenix’s five: 22 years, 64 days.
This marks the second time this season the Suns have fielded their youngest starting group. On Nov. 8 – with veteran center Tyson Chandler out – their starters averaged 22 years, 210 days.
This is not a record teams shoot for; it’s just the situation the Suns are in. And in the end, it didn't matter.
Devin Booker spun and hit a 20-foot jumper just before the buzzer to lift the Suns to a 100-98 win over the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Booker – one of three Phoenix starters under the legal drinking age – finished with 36 points, 14 coming in the final quarter.
Trailing 96-92, Booker twice scored in the lane to knot the contest with 1:10 to go. Dallas forward Harrison Barnes hit two foul shots to put Dallas up 98-96 with a minute left, but Booker struck again. After the Suns got a stop, Booker drove on Dallas forward Wesley Matthews and hit the winner.
The second-year guard made 12 of 20 from the field and 10 of 10 from the foul line. Warren added 16 points and eight rebounds as the Suns improved to 22-44.
Dallas dropped to 28-37. Barnes and Dirk Nowitzki each led the Mavericks with 23 points. SUNS 100, MAVERICKS 98
FG FT Reb Min M-A M-A O-T Chriss 23:34 2-4 0-0 0-8 Jones 26:01 1-3 0-0 1-7 Warren 33:22 6-10 4-5 2-8 Bledsoe 30:52 4-16 3-3 0-2 Booker 34:30 12-20 10-10 1-5 Ulis 28:27 4-11 0-0 0-3 Williams 26:23 5-7 0-0 0-5 Dudley 21:45 2-5 1-2 0-1 Barbosa 15:06 2-5 0-0 0-0 Totals 240:00 38-81 18-20 4-39 Percentages: FG .469, FT .900. 3-Point Goals: 6-20, .300 (Booker 2-5, Dudley 2-5, Chriss 1-2, Bledsoe 1-4, Barbosa 0-1, Jones 0-1, Ulis 0-2). Team Rebounds: 2. Team Turnovers: 12 (14 PTS). Blocked Shots: 8 (Chriss 3, Williams 2, Bledsoe, Ulis, Warren). Turnovers: 12 (Bledsoe 4, Barbosa 2, Booker, Chriss, Dudley, Jones, Warren, Williams). Steals: 5 (Barbosa, Bledsoe, Dudley, Ulis, Williams). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 3:50 first; team, 3:50 first. Phoenix A PF PTS 1 5 5 1 4 2 1 5 16 6 3 12 2 2 36 5 1 8 1 2 10 0 0 7 1 2 4 18 24 100 Dallas
FG Min M-A Barnes 36:21 5-16 Nowitzki 30:55 10-14 Curry 33:14 1-8 Ferrell 27:14 3-7 Matthews 34:30 1-6 D.Harris 22:58 3-8 Barea 15:46 2-9 Mejri 15:45 0-2 Finney-Smith 13:30 2-3 Powell 9:47 1-1 Totals 240:00 28-74 Percentages: FG .378, FT .917. 3-Point Goals: 9-26, .346 (D.Harris 3-7, Finney-Smith 2-2, Nowitzki 1-2, Ferrell 1-3, Barea 1-4, Matthews 1-4, Barnes 0-1, Curry 0-3). Team Rebounds: 4. Team Turnovers: 13 (13 PTS). Blocked Shots: 2 (Mejri 2). Turnovers: 13 (Barea 3, D.Harris 3, Curry 2, Barnes, Finney-Smith, Matthews, Mejri, Nowitzki). Steals: 2 (Ferrell 2). Technical Fouls: Matthews, 10:39 third.
FT M-A 13-14 2-3 1-1 6-6 4-4 5-6 0-0 2-2 0-0 0-0 33-36 Reb O-T 3-7 1-11 0-3 0-0 3-7 0-3 1-2 1-7 1-5 0-3 10-48 A PF PTS 1 1 23 2 2 23 3 1 3 1 3 13 3 5 7 2 3 14 4 0 5 0 1 2 1 0 6 0 1 2 17 17 98 Phoenix Dallas A—20,324 (19,200). T—2:13. Officials—Mitchell Ervin, Leroy Richardson, Tony Brothers 25 24 20 23 27 22 28 — 29 — 100 98